Oh, man, I'm gonna get murdered, aren't I? I'M SO SORRY!!!!! It wasn't my fault, though! I couldn't find the hard copy of my story, then I had to go Christmas shopping (which I'm still not done with), then a family member died, then my town got attacked by a fifty-foot monster!
………..Okay, fine. I forgot. Sheesh, way to take away all the fun….XDD The only true part of that tirade was that I couldn't find the hard copy………..for five days. After that, well…..yeah.
Anyway, in your review, guess who's the bad guy. It might be whom you expect, it might not…mwahahahahaHAHAHAH!!!
Good luck!
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Maddie rushed to the door at the doorbells insistent ringing. "I'm coming!" she shouted. She yanked the door open mid-ring.
Ashley's father stood on the doorstep. He looked horrible. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy from their earlier conversation, and he had five-o-clock shadow. He wore the same clothes that he'd worn the day before, and he looked all-around stressed.
Maddie pulled out a scanner and ran it over him. The scanner beeped and announced, "Minor ectoplasmic residue. Evidence of possession." Maddie nodded.
"Exactly what I expected. Come in, sir. Ashley's here."
His eyes widened, and he leapt through the door. "She's here? Ashley? Where? I need to talk to her…"
Maddie grabbed his arm and forced him to look her straight in the eye. "Ashley's asleep on the couch. Phantom found her last night and brought her here. She hasn't woken up since then."
Ashley's dad relaxed slightly. "Can I wake her up to talk?" His eyes were hopeful.
Maddie sighed and shook her head. His crushed expression was almost too much to bear, but she explained. "We can't wake her up. We've tried. She was attacked by a ghost, and something….happened. It's almost like she's in a coma."
Ashley's dad got a fearful look on his face. "I need to see her," he croaked.
Maddie nodded and led him to the couch. At the sight of his daughter, he fell to his knees next to the couch and stroked Ashley's hair away from her face. "Oh, Ashley…"
Maddie wrung her hands nervously. Finally, she pulled him to his feet and away from Ashley. She set him at the kitchen table and brought him a glass of warm lemonade.
"Here," she said. "It'll help."
The broken man sipped at the glass through sobs and nodded thanks. Maddie sat across from him and studied him.
"I never caught your name, by the way," she said.
The man gave on last shuddering sob and said, "Jeremy. I'm Jeremy Sakugo."
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
In the depths of the Ghost Zone, Clockwork and Deathscope stood before one of Clockwork's screens.
"Do you think he can do it, Clockwork?" asked Deathscope.
Clockwork sighed. "Danny has immense ability, plenty of determination, and he truly cares for the girl. However, this is a daunting task. I am unsure of Danny's will."
Deathscope nodded. "I see. Will great devastation come from a failure?"
Clockwork spoke gravely. "Yes. If Danny fails, he may lose all hope for a good future."
Deathscope cocked his head. "Show me."
Clockwork changed the screen, and a flurry of events streaked past, describing a horrible future where Danny Phantom did not exist.
oOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
A withered old woman stood at the top of a building. She held her wrinkled hands in front of her face and frowned. "What went wrong?" she asked herself. "I felt so refreshed when the girl's energy entered me, but…now my beauty's disappearing. It never disappeared this quickly before, though. What happened?"
She studied her hands for several seconds, as if searching for the answer to her flawed skin. She sighed. "That whole thing was weird. I've never had a kid actually pass out before, and I've never seen that cloud, either."
She frowned, puzzled. "What was it?"
Her thoughts were interrupted when a pink beam of energy lanced past her face. It came very close to hitting her; the shock wave rustled her greasy hair. She jumped up and spun around to face her opponent.
A red figure on a jet sled hovered behind her, gun poised and aimed at her chest. "Say good-bye, Spook!" the hunter shouted. Her finger tightened on the trigger, and another pink beam shot at Spectra. Spectra ducked with difficulty (she was a spindly old lady) and turned tail.
As the red huntress gave chase, Spectra could only think, Where's Bertrand? I can't fight; I need him!
The chase led to FentonWorks, where Spectra planned to use the Fenton Portal to escape back to the Ghost Zone. She phased through the front door and through the living room with the red huntress close behind.
She stopped dead when she was met with the business end of an ectogun at the entrance to the kitchen. Behind her, the red huntress buried the barrel of another ectogun in her back. Spectra held perfectly still while the two huntresses exchanged calculating glances.
Maddie turned back to Spectra. "Who are you, Ghost?" she asked. Her eyes were hard, and Spectra had no doubts that she would pull the trigger if she felt it was necessary.
Spectra gulped. "Spectra…." She trailed off upon noticing the intense rage on Maddie's face.
Maddie pulled a capsule out of her back pocket and pressed a button on it. It expended and snapped shut around Spectra, trapping her.
The red huntress stared at Maddie. Maddie nodded for her to go, and she left, not wanting to feel the apparent wrath of the ghost huntress.
Maddie stormed back into the kitchen, where Jeremy was still sitting at the table. She slammed the capsule onto the table and spat, "I found the one who did that to Ashley."
Jeremy's eyes widened, and he stared at the capsule in shock. "The ghost in there did this?"
Maddie nodded. "Come down to the lab with me; we'll question it to find out exactly what happened." She grabbed the capsule and started down the stairs. Jeremy stood and followed her. She strode to a small drawer and opened it, pulling out a silver bubble-wand with the word 'Fenton' on the side.
Jeremy stared at it in confusion and asked, "What is that?"
Maddie's grin would have scared a demon.
"The Fenton Bubble-Binder."
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Phantom stepped out of the latest door—black for fear. He glanced down the hall. He was just over halfway done, and he'd released fear, joy, love, hate, hope, surprise, and guilt. With a sigh, he stepped through an orange door.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Ashley sighed. Phantom was doing all of this for her, but it was her fault. If she hadn't overreacted in the first place, they'd be fine, and she would be flying with him. Well, she would if it was night in the real world. There was no way to tell time in the hallway.
Since she had arrived, Phantom had mad several doors disappear. She figured out that every time he "destroyed" a door, she got another emotion back. She assumed that was a good thing.
Bored, she looked away from the hallway. She was in a white expanse, standing on the roof of the hall. Oddly, she could see through the roof.
She saw a small dot of color in the distance, so she started off for it.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Clockwork stood before Deathscope's mirror. It worked much like his screens, but showed minds and emotions rather than events in time.
Deathscope had aligned the mirror to Ashley's mind. Clockwork saw Phantom exploring a world where Ashley was forever saying "Thank you!" Clockwork groaned.
"Come on, Daniel. It's not that hard…" he prompted.
Phantom seemed indecisive for a moment, but then he shouted, "Thanks! Gratitude!" With a flash, the world disappeared.
"It seems he is adept at figuring out her emotions." Deathscope's voice was unusually hard. Clockwork turned to face him.
"Yes," he agreed. "If he continues at this pace, he may have her out by the end of the night, before his father comes home."
Deathscope shot him a curious glance. "The night is almost over. There are only a few hours left. How could he finish in that time?"
Clockwork grinned mischievously. He raised his staff and pressed a button, commanding, "Time Out." Around them, the world froze. Clockwork placed a medallion around Deathscope's neck, freeing him from the spell, and led him to the mirror.
Phantom continued working in Ashley's mind.
Deathscope gasped. "What? How could they still move?"
Clockwork winked. "I'm afraid my abilities do not extend to the mind. They're free to work."
Deathscope cocked an eyebrow.
OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOo
Okay, remember to guess who the bad guy is! I'm betting at least ONE person will get it…..we'll see, huh?
Thanks to:
PPGBelle4, lil' munkies, TexasDreamer01, Ness Lupin (YAY!!! NEW REVIEWER!! WELCOME!), Yami-chan and Unrealistic, cordria, StarPhantom, chantipotter (next time, reivew using the REVIEW button, not email! XD), weirdIT, Autumnmycat23, The Blood Countess Erzsebet, ghostanimal, DP fan, and Linda (TWO NEW REVIEWERS!!! HUZZAH!!!) ! You guys are a big help and a necessary pain in the butt to get me to update. (cordria, that means you especially. XD j/k) See you all next time! (Hopefully sooner, too…;;;)
Sasia